APNew England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) is sacked by Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Kyle Williams (95) during the second half of their NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Sept. 26, 2010. The Patriots defeated the Bills 38-30.

There’s a reason the New England Patriots get nervous whenever they see the Miami Dolphins approaching on their schedule.

They can never be sure what to expect.

In Week 3 of the 2008 season, the Patriots became the original victims of the Dolphins Wildcat offense, and they still haven’t fully recovered from the image of Miami’s running back scoring four touchdowns on direct snaps.

“They always put a new wrinkle into the offense, shoot, especially when it comes to us,” safety James Sanders told reporters at his locker Friday. “We were the victims of the Wildcat the first time around and they caught us off-guard. So, mentally, you always got to be prepared.”

This season the Dolphins haven’t enjoyed the same success out of the Wildcat that allowed them to go 11-5 and win the AFC East in 2005.

In 15 plays out of the formation, Miami has gained only 29 yards and has yet to score a touchdown.

Still, that doesn’t make them anymore comfortable to face since the element of surprise has already been established.

“Yeah, you don’t know where they are,” coach Bill Belichick said. “You definitely don’t know where they are. Finding them is half the problem and then defending them is another part of the problem.”

Whether Miami gets creative or sticks to the status quo of testing the Patriots young receivers is immaterial. The Patriots have to find a way to stop them.

Three weeks into the season is still early to start defining things, but by the time they leave the field Monday night, the Patriots will have played 25 percent of their schedule and half of their conference games.

This game against Miami could go a long way in determining which way this New England team goes.

"These Monday night games tell you an awful lot about what kind of team you have, with the buildup to the game, and we're playing a very good team on the road, a division opponent," quarterback Tom Brady said Wednesday. "It's a real big game for us in the course of the season. We're really going to find out what kind of team we are."

The biggest thing they need to find out is if they can win on the road. It’s a storyline that haunted them last year as they went 2-6 away from Gillette Stadium, including a win in London over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and continues to linger after their second half meltdown against the Jets Week 2.

So, as Brady said, it’s time for the Patriots to start defining who they are.

If that definition includes the word contender, then they need to do what the Jets already accomplished and go into Miami and leave with a win.

"When you're on the road, the momentum is tough to gain and it's pretty easy to give away," Brady said. "You can't really make [mistakes]. So that's what we're focusing on this week. There can't be mistakes. We don't have a lot of margin for error this week."

This game also carries importance in terms of the division race. If the Patriots lose to Miami, they’d find themselves at 1-2 in the AFC East, which would put them in a huge deficit behind the Jets, who improved to 3-0 by beating the Bills Sunday.